with lauren cook good morning. >> good morning. merry christmas eve. traveling in baltimore county, do watch out for a crash in owings mills. it's on green spring valley road at spring hill road. using 83 this morning, as we check in and look live north of 695, you will notice traffic moving right along no problems getting downtown. and this is what 95 looks like at 395 no delays through the fort mchenry tunnel and harbor tunnel clear. you won't have problems getting to bwi airport this morning. and as we look at the abc2 timesaver traffic drive times, 695 going to be in great shape right now in the east side it's going to take you 11 minutes to travel the outer loop from 95 up to 8 3. no concerns on west side an 11 minute ride on outer loop from 795 to 95. that's the traffic now megan over to you. the tragedy at sandy hook elementary has put a renewed focus on gun control laws and with that debate heating up, the nra president stood firm on

the organization stance that gun control legislation is not the answer for stopping violencech the group has been cite sized after the -- criticized for the statement last week pushing for armed guards in every school. in response, to the newtown shooting. but it made no mention of gun control. >> the fact that something is misused whether it's a baseball bat or mass killing at a school or a ax or a knife doesn't mean you ban the baseball bats. what it means is you protect the innocent on the one hand and try to keep weapons out of the hands of those who are likely to commit such crimes. >> he goes onto say he doesn't support a ban on semiautomatic weapons like the kind that was used at shooting at sandy hook elementary school. nra has been criticized as being tone deafization make the statement. we are hearing from local politician who is are pushing for tighter gun control. senator lisa gladden who

represents baltimore city is making it a mission to outlaw extended magazines which allows a gunman to carry more ammunition. and she and her colleagues say there is no use for high powered weapons. >> it's stupid. i just -- it doesn't make sense to add more guns to schools. when you add more guns to reduce violence i think you increase violence. >> if it's crazy to call for putting police and armed security in the school to protect our children, then call me crazy. >> when it comes to gun stores a senator from montgomery county is going to push to give state police the same authority as the atf to audit how many guns were used in a crime sanctions on the oners. a group called -- owners. a group called mayors against illegal guns put a competition demanding the president and congress put together a plan to end gun violence. stephanie rawlings blake and josh cohen are members of the group. this is video you have got

to see. a moment of terror for any mother seeing her child in shopping cart rolling out of control down a hill and right towards a highway. look at this. it is caught on camera. thankfully that baby is safe all thanks to a quick thinking police officer. an officer named adam spotted that child a few feet away from the highway. so he sped towards the helpless baby. police say the baby's mother had placed her child in the shopping cart putting her other child in the car when the baby rolled away. one lucky boy near san diego wished for only one thing this christmas. to see his dad who was deployed in afghanistan and the 7-year- old's christmas present arrived early. >> hey buddy. >> daddy. >> i missed you. >> this is the second time i was deployed and being away from my son who is one of two. i always wanted to surprise him. >> that's so great he got home

in time and made the kids wish come true. the staff sergeant sullivan secretly returned from five month deployment earlier than expected. everyone except for his accomplice his wife rebecca who was in on it too. st. nick is not so old after all. he is high tech. so just ahead this morning, how you and the kids can keep an eye on santa and all his adventures as he delivers toys around the world. and getting people in the spirit and doing it while helping others. we will show you what's being done in one community. >> and make sure to go to the app and down load our app and see what's going on. we have some wet weather down south. it will be pushed towards maryland going throughout the day. get the temperatures where you live. don't go anywhere. good morning maryland will be right back.

santa is in new zealand out right now delivering presents to boys and girls all over the world. our producer is tracking him. before he started his journey he let the camera crews witness the final preparations and he said merry christmas before hi big departure and father christmas is busy making sure everybody gets what they want, he says what is most important is that people remember to wish for peace on earth and good will for everyone. you can monitor santa's journey online. all you have to do is click on norad and they have a santa tracker and they can do it online. it's right now a joint u.s. cay neighedan military operation -- canadian military operation that helps kids follow the flight every year so just go to norad santa.org to check him out. a man in eastern

connecticut designs a holiday show and he does this light display for a good cause. it draws people from all over. [ music ] ♪ [ music ] ♪ >> cars line up down the streets to see the display set to music. christopher lambert says it's all about getting people in theholiday spirit and this year he is partnering with paws for purple hearts a program that helps train service dogs for veterans coming back from war. news time is 6:39. what are you waiting for? shoppers waiting until the last- minute will have a lot of company today. millions are expected to flood stores today. and shops are accommodating all procrastinators out there. plus, dreaming of a white

christmas, this may change your mind. parts of the country getting socked with winter weather. we will tell you where ahead. >> and we are dry right now. but we have those clouds. i will tell you when the rain moves in and how long it will last coming up. >> reporter: no problems to report on 83 up in hunt valley. i will let you know what traffic looks like heading to bwi airport and 695 all coming up on good morning maryland. it's time to change the way we clean.

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you're watching the station that works for you abc2 baltimore. good monday morning and murray christmas eve i am megan pringle charley crowson is off but it's time for the abc2 news to go. let's start with lynette charles and it's chilly out there. >> it is. and it's cold out there this morning. make sure to dress in layers as you head out and about. you will need the layers all day long if you plan on being outside for extended period of time. and as we go throughout the day we will be watching what's on maryland's most powerful radar and it's dry right now but change is moving in to the picture as far north as virginia. starting to see wet weather move in. 28 degrees right now in mount airy and that's the scenario through the morning hours. temperatures will remain cold

30 degrees in churchville and chestertown coming in at 27. so seasonably cold this morning by the time we get to the afternoon we could see the temperatures at 40 this will be below average many we should be at 43 degrees now for this time of the year. and the big story is, well, are we going to get snow in here? there's possibility. a wintery mix going into the afternoon time frame and around 3:00 we could see the snow mixing in with that rain across the area. so be prepared for that. it's very festive. a lot of people want snow. we will see we have three more chance of the snow to come in going into wednesday and also on saturday. let's check the traffic with lauren cook good morning. >> reporter: good morning. if you have some last-minute shopping to do, many malls are open. mall in columbia is going to be one of them and there won't be problem getting there. interstate 70 nice and clear from columbia pike all the way over to 695. and if you are heading to the airport, 95 going to be nice and clear from elk ridge taking 12 minutes to head all the way into baltimore city and here's a live look downtown right now,

95 at 395 traffic moving right along no delays through the fort mchenry tunnel or harbor tunnel and heading out to 695,this is what it looks like at liberty road. nice and calm. 11 minutes on the outer loop from 795 all the way down to 95. that's the look at your abc2 timesaver traffic now over to you. bleak tone from some in congress on reaching a deal with white house to avoid the fiscal cliff. with one week to go president obama and congress are on christmas vacation. it will be thursday before talks resume to prevent automatic tax hikes and spending cuts taking effect january 1st. on friday, speaker boehner and the president left town with no deal each making a parting pitch. >> we have asked leaders of congress to work towards a package preventing a tax hike on middle class americans protects unemployment insurance for two million americans, and lace the ground work for further work on both growth and

deficit reduction. >> the president's solution of raising tax rates would be red ink as far as the eye can see. and it would hurt jobs. >> if congress fails to reach any agreement in con-- income tax rates will go up on about everybody on january 1st. unemployment benefits will expire for many as well. the u.s. senator arrested for driving under the influence says he is "deeply sorry" for what happened. police say that michael crapo was pulled over early sunday in dc for running a red light. he he was arrested after failing a sobriety test. he has been released on bond and he is a mormon from idaho and has said in past interviews he abstains tans from drinking because it's prohibit -- from drinking abtans interest -- abstains from drinking alcohol because it's prohibited by the church. bolt a man has been -- a man is 36-year-old gregory

stegall and a officer was on patrol when he noticed a suspicious man behind the shell. he asked the man to come out from behind the business and he refused and police say he threatened the officer with a knife. the man was shot once and the officer right now is on routine administrative leave. an investigation continues into what caused a body to be pulled from the inner harbor sunday behind a world trade center. the medical examiner's office is working to determine the cause of death. the person has not been identified but as soon as we know we will let you know. 6:47. five things to know on this monday morning. it's christmas eve and all over the world people are celebrating. pope benedict xvi will hold a midnight mass at vatican around 6 our time. thousands of people are expected to come out to get the pope's blessing. and it's been business since 1960. stephen's hardware in annapolis will close at 1 this afternoon for good. the family wants to close the

store while they are doing well not in debt. president george hw bush may not be released from the hospital in time for christmas. the 88-year-old has been there for about a month undergoing treatment for bronchitis. his doctors want him to build up his energy before they send him home. strong winds and snow swept through western maryland causing power outages. potomac edison restored power to more than a thousand customers. everyone should have their power on by the end of the morning. many shoppers have not been in the holiday spirit when it comes to spending money. four-day black friday weekend that started out on thanksgiving was strong but it actually has now fallen short. last week they say decreasing the holiday's forecast. and down to the wire if you haven't gotten your christmas shopping done. you better hurry because today is the last day to do it. stores are accommodating all you procrastinators and all you early risers like abc2 news linda so live this morning at

the mall in columbia. and i know linda the doors will be opening in about 10 minutes so you will be there to greet the shoppers. >> reporter: of course. and we see the parking lot is filling up in the last ten minutes. we have seen more cars parking here. it was empty an hour ago but macy's jc penny will open 579nordstrom at 8 so will the rest of the mall. there's tons of last- minuteholiday shoppers. 17 million people say they actually shop on christmas eve. today, a good bulk of the shoppers have not started the shopping yet. so expect to share the malls share the stores with those procrastinators. a lot, again, expected today. i was here at the mall this weekend on saturday and the parking lots were full i got stuck in the parking garage trying to find a spot. so you want to be patient as a lot of people wait until last- minute to get the deals. but again macy's did something this weekend that they never

did before. they stayed open nonstop since friday night and friday they stayed open the entire weekend and actually closed at midnight last night. but they will be reopening their doors at 7 this morning. did you know that actually the busiest shopping day of the year is not black friday but it's the saturday before christmas eve. and again we talked to some shoppers who say that they have waited until the last-minute and they like to do that because they like shopping under stress and they make those impulse decisions. so again, here at the mall in columbia macy's jc penny will be opening at 7. nordstrom at 8 and the mall will remain open until 6 tonight. good luck to all of you last- minute shoppers and get out early if you still have shopping left to do. live in columbia linda so, abc2 news. >> all right thanks. guys get a bad reputation for that. joe flacco threw for 309 yards and 2 touchdowns and ravens

defeated the giants 33-14 sunday to capture the afc north title. victory ended a three game skid for the ravens and assured them a home play-off game in the first weekend of january. the defeat eliminated the defending superbowl champs the giants from the contention of the nfc east and damaged the chances of qualifying for a play off berth. forget rising gas prices. milling will be more expense -- milk will be more expensive in the next coming year. it could cost up to $7 a gallon with congress spending all the time trying to aver the physical -- avert the fiscal cliff other legislative matters are going unattend one is the agriculture bill which if not addressed could lead to a doubling of the price of milk early next year. and gas prices have fallen nearly 12 cents over the last two weeks. the average cost of a gallon of regular gasoline is 3.26. that is the good news at the

pump. it's unlikely that it will continue. higher crude oil prices are translating into higher whole sale gasoline prices so expect the prices to jump 5 or even 10 cents coming soon. yes, there is no place like home for the holidays. no doubt about it. but the weather is not making it easy for people to get there. look at this. heavy snow, torrential rains delayed so many people. millions of travelers have been stranded. the roads are practically impossible to navigate. in some parts of the western united states. >> road are pretty bad. a lot -- roads are pretty bad. there's a lot of spinouts further east. there's going to be chain control for the next two days or least going into christmas. >> and swimming might bt best way to traveling if you -- can be might be the best way to travel around sonoma county california. high waters and people have to navigate around that. but as you always say lynette, don't drive in the conditions. that weather is nasty. >> it is nasty. and it's coming down. still dealing with snow across

the area and also rain. so they will have today to deal with it and maybe moo tomorrow. but, all this is sliding off towards the east. we have a storm here that is brewing down south. and with that, well, they could be seeing severe weather. back here at home, we have the rain possibility and also the possibility of some snow mixing in as well. the radar right now picking up on high clouds moving through. but we can see that rain as close as virginia as of now. so this is what we will work with as we head throughout the day. looking at what's going on in bel air and we see a few high clouds streaming in across the area. but all in all, temperature wise for today, that's what we have to contend with. the colder air will be moving into the picture. so be prepared for that as well. we can see the 29 degrees in westminster and northville. baltimore coming in at 34 degrees. and rock hall freezing northeast at 29 and fred railsburg at 32. the future trend is going to pick up on the chance for the the rain to move in and the snow back off towards the north and west. looking at time stamp and this

afternoon that's a possibility. working into the evening time frame still more of the same. gets out by christmas it looks drier so you can go out and play with the toys. but then we have another storm brewing going into wednesday. 40 for today and by tomorrow, the temperature at 46 and here's a check of the 7-day forecast. as we have the next chance on saturday for some wintery weather. let's check the traffic with lauren. >> reporter: good morning. a pretty cold christmas eve. if you have last-minute shop you won't -- shopping you won't haveproblems getting to towson town sent. 95 in white marsh, a 14 minute ride traveling southbound from the beltway all the way into the city. and checking in and looking live downtown, here at 395, traffic is moving along no delays to the fort mchenry tunnel or harbor tunnel. and as we head up to hunt valley, this is what 83 looks like at shawan road. no problems getting down to the beltway. that's a your abc2 timesaver

traffic now over to you. >> listen if you are out shopping at the annapolis mall this weekend with you. you may have -- weekend you may have caught a christmas surprise. [ music ] ♪ >> it's gangnam style with a twist. the flash mob broke out saturday irish dancing gangnam style. they are part of a team of irish dance company in columbia. they look really good. i have to say i am pretty impressed. that's awesome. more so with this than the regular gangnam style because it has a twist and player. >> i like it. >> i do too. >> there they go. >> very cool. >> that's the gangnam style we know. but even for a flash mob they are more organized than you are used to seeing so annapolis

mall the place to get a prettyspectacular sight with the shopping going on there. all right. so speak of shopping a. lot of people are heading out last- minute. you say bundle up especially if you are going to do outdoor shopping like in the downtown area. >> exactly. it's cold and will stay that way throughout the day. >> okay. >> and if you are going to be outside doing that take umbrella because in the afternoon, it's going to come down. >> the wintery mix. >> yes. >> parking lots are empty so that will probably change later today. >> yes. >> reporter: as everybody wakes up and realize they have to get out and get the presents. but. >> all right. >> a reminder if you are staying indoors enjoy it. and we do want to let you know we checked on santa, again we have been tracking him all morning and he was in new zealand and he is at solomon's island g to norad.org before we go a very merry christmas we won't be here tomorrow because christmas with the coral arts will air and it's wonderful

event. so check it out in the morning. have wonderful christmas and we will see you back here on the 26th. honey, don't use your sleeve.

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